There is a fierce urgency of now to act on climate in America, Ukraine, and the world-

Op-ed by Pat Spearman, former NV state senator, Army Veteran, and pastor

We must invest more in clean energy, not less in communities that need it the most. The climate crisis is a crisis we all must face. It’s a threat multiplier. When I served in the military and as a state senator, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution from threats foreign and domestic. The climate crisis is a threat abroad and at home. I continue, along with other fellow veterans, to abide by our oath.

For, we face a fierce urgency to act to mitigate the climate crisis.

When Putin invaded Ukraine he had plans for its natural resources. His wealth derives from Ukraine’s fossil fuels. He’s still profiting from it illegally. He’s still fueling his war machine killing thousands, and destroying a peace-loving democratic nation.

We face the fierce urgency of now.

Ukraine is showing innovative ways to fight back including installing solar and wind to power their schools and hospitals. Having clean energy is a matter of survival for them.

We need to act with the same urgency they have.  It is a matter of survival for the world.

Heatwaves are the deadliest form of extreme weather and kills more Americans than floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined. More than 21,000 deaths in the United States from 1999 to 2023 were recorded as being related to heat. Last year, there were more than a hundred days when temperatures remained over 100 degrees last summer in Las Vegas. Those who are most vulnerable to heat-related health effects include working-class, low-income, and Latino and Black communities.

There is a fierce urgency of now to act.

Nevada is facing severe water shortage. The climate crisis and overuse have led to dangerously low water levels in Lake Mead, the river's largest reservoir, threatening Nevada's water supply.  Without an effort to seriously recover water storage in Lake Mead, the river could be on the brink of crisis. Nature provided a life source and human use of fossil fuels has disrupted the ecosystem causing a mega drought.

There is a fierce urgency of now to act.

The previous administration cared about mitigating the effects of the climate crisis. Tax credits for companies that manufacture batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and other technologies in the United States saw investments of $44 billion in 2023 in domestic clean-energy manufacturing. The Inflation Reduction Act also offered significant rebates for consumer clean energy technologies, such as solar panels, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and energy-efficient appliances. The Office of Economic Policy showed more than 41,000 Nevada families benefited from more than $151 million in IRA tax credits to lower the costs of clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades to their homes during 2023. 

Now, those benefits have been rolled back by the Trump administration. The latest to be under the axe is a program for low income and disadvantaged communities, often redlined by systemic racism. This Solar for All was a program where solar was installed on the rooftops of residents in these communities, paid for by the grant.

Solar for All recognized the fierce urgency to act.

The average Nevadan family spent almost $700 a month on their utility bill this summer. While people who are wealthy don’t have to choose between paying an electric bill that skyrocketed from having to use the AC to stay cool and groceries or medicine, too many in Nevada do.

But despite the science of greenhouse gas making the crisis worse, the Trump administration is working to ramp up fossil fuel production, which endangers the environment, increases extreme weather, threatens public health and hurts disadvantaged and environmental justice communities the most and makes us energy insecure.  It’s a national security issue.

Having to breathe in heavily polluted cancer-causing air just because you live near a factory, congested roadway or shipping route has to stop. Environmental justice communities need to be lifted up and out of the dark ages of systemic racism. Clean energy can make it happen, while making the U.S. energy secure. There is the fierce urgency to act.

The U.S. pays $81 billion protecting oil interests around the world every year—$81 billion. On the other hand, renewables are the cheapest form of power today, reduce our carbon footprint, create jobs, protect public health, lift up environmental justice communities, and are critical to energy security.

When threat multipliers happen, too often it’s Americans in uniform who are asked to put things right. That’s not right. Too many have suffered, some with the ultimate sacrifice because of fossil fuel wars.

May God bless us, and have mercy on all of us if we do not decide to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel consumption because there is a fierce urgency of now.